Converter arrangement for suction cleaners



Feb. 9, 1954 D. c. GERBER CONVERTER ARRANGEMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 27, 1950 Fzy INVENTOH. ,Dale 0. Gerber ATTORNEY.

Feb. 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet? Filed May 27, 1950 INVENTOR. Dale 0. Gerber B ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 9, 1954 CONVERTER ARRANGEMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Dale 0. Gerber, North Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application May 27, 1950, Serial No. 164,780

Claims. (Cl. -325) This invention relates to suction cleaners and more particularly to a converter arrangement for converting suction cleaners from on-the-floor cleaning to off-the-floor cleaning.

Specifically, according to the present invention, a furniture guard of rubber, thermoplastic or other suitable material forms a continuation of the appearance hood and extends across the headlight housing, is of sectional formation and one section forms a. closure for the converter receiving opening and conforms generally to the shaped outline of the cleaner hood to preserve the appearance of the cleaner and also hide the converter receiving opening from view.

According to another feature of the present invention the converter receiving opening opens into the top front of a suction passageway so that a converter tool can be inserted from the top front of the cleaner in a downwardly and rearward direction thus making it possible to easily insert the converter and yet close the converter receiving opening by means of a portion of the furniture guard.

Other-objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a suction cleaner showing the present invention applied thereto; and

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the converter receiving opening showing the converter in place and the converter opening closure in open position.

Referring to the drawings the main body or chassis It is supported for ambulatory movement by front and rear wheels H and I2 respectively and is formed with a downwardly facing suction nozzle :3 having a furniture guard M of rubber, thermoplastic or other suitable material extending about its ends and front.

A casing [5 which houses the motor-fan unit is pivoted to the rear of the body It by a pair of trunnions in a manner similar to that shown by the patent to Burkhardt 2,225,621 dated December 24, 1940. Rigid with the casing I5 is an exhaust nozzle 15 and a handle socket ii. The exhaust nozzle it detachably receives the lower open end of a filter bag It the upper end of which is supported from near the upper end of a handle The casing 15 and body H! are formed with a fan eye 28 opening through one of the trunnions into a suction passageway 2i leading from the fan eye 26 to the nozzle 13. A pulley 22 formed as an extension of the fan shaft extends through the fan eye and drives the belt 23 which ir turn drives an agitator (not shown) of any=suitable construction mounted within the nozzle [3 so as to contact the surface covering as it is drawn upwardly against the nozzle by the suction produced by the fan. The lower wall of the suction passageway 2! is formed by a removable cover plate 24 to provide ready access to the belt and pulley.

A converter receiving opening 25 is formed in the top front portion of the converter passageway 21 and slopes downwardly and rearwardly as shown in Fig. 2. The opening 25 is normally closed by a gate valve 26 spring-biased to closed position by a spring 21.

An appearance hood 30 is suitably mounted on the top of the body l0, extends from the rear forwardly along opposite sides of the casing l5 and at its forward end forms a housing for a headlight mounted in the rear of a light transmitting lens 3 I. As shown in Fig. 1 the converter receiving opening 25 is positioned to one side of the lens 3!.

A furniture guard '32 of rubber, thermoplastic or other suitable material forms a streamlined continuation of the appearance hood 30. The furniture guard 32 is formed with a movable section 33 which normally lies over the converter receiving opening 25. The material of the furniture guard forms a hinge for the section 33. The section 33 includes a lining plate 34 held to the rubber guard by retaining buttons 35. The plate '34 extends downwardly at 35 'to form a cover for the opening 25. A spring latch 3'! is secured to the under side of plate 34 and has an offset lug 38 which engages in a recess 39 to latch the section 33 in closed position. The latch 31 is provided with an operating handle 40 which extends through an opening M in the front plate 36.

A converter tool 42 is insertable into the converter receiving opening 25 and extends downwardly and rearwardly across the suction passageway 2i between the fan eye 20 and the nozzle 13. The converter tool 42 is provided with a rearwardly facing opening 43 and a recessed portion 54 to receive the belt 23 which lies close to the inner wall of the suction passageway 2| so that the tool 52 closes off substantially the entire area of the suction passageway 2|.

Extended upwardly at the sides of the converter receiving opening 25 are a pair of upstanding walls 45 and 46 which act as guides for the tool 42 and also a support for the section 33 when it is in closed position. An opening 41 is formed in the wall 45 to receive the end 48 of a latch carried by the tool 42. The latch may be released by pressing inwardly on its handle 49. The upper end of the tool 42 detachably receives one end of a flexible hose 50 as is well known in the art.

Fromthe foregoing description it is believed that the operation of the present invention is obvious. The present invention provides .a simple construction by which the converter tool may be readily inserted in a'do-wnwardand rearward direction and the cleaner propelled about by pulling on the hose 59. When theic'onverter tool is not in use the converterreceiving opening is concealed from view by a portion of the cleaner which normally forms a portion of its streamlined outline.

While I have shown but a single embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that this embodiment .is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not Wish to be ilimited to theiparticular structure shown and described but to include all-equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

-1. A- i-suction cleaner comprising, a body mounted for ambulator-ymovement, suction producing means supported by said body, said body being. formed with a downwardly facing suction nozzle and with'a suction passageway connecting-said nozzle to-said-suction producing means, a'converter receivingopening formed in the upper ewallof-said suction passageway and a furniture guard of flexible material extending across the stop irontiportionof said body .having a section normally extending .across 'said converter receiving opening to .form-a covertherefor and being movable upwardly independently of the remainder-of saidfurniture guard to uncover said opening.

2. .A suction cleaner according to claim .1 in which said movable section is hinged to the remainder offsaid furniture guard by thematerial of .the guard.

3. A suction cleaner accordingto claim 2 including a latch on the free end of said section cooperating with a latch receiving opening adjacent said converter receiving opening to hold said section in its closed position.

4. A suction cleaner according to claim 1 including .guide means extending upwardly from the sides-of said converter receiving opening for guiding a converter tool into said opening and forming a support for said furniture guard section when it is in its closed position.

'5. A suction cleaner comprising, a body mounted for ambulatory movement, a motorfan unit supported by said body, said unit being DALE C. GERBER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,017,937 Becker Oct. 22, I935 2,057,594 Reibel Oct. 13,1936 2,175,054; Snyder 'Oct. 3, 1939 2,218,166 Gerber Oct. :15, 194.0 224L862 Langille May .13, 1941 2,253,997 Becker Aug. 26, 1941 2,322,223 Coss June 22, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 111,866 Australia .Nov. 4, 1940 598,919 Great Britain Mar. 1, 1948 

